20.8 Creating Bundle Groups

A bundle group lets you group bundles to ease administration and to provide easier assigning and scheduling of the bundles in the bundle group.

You can use the ZENworks Control Center or the zlman command line utility to create bundle groups. The following procedure explains how to perform this task using the ZENworks Control Center. If you prefer the zlman command line utility, see the Bundle Commands section of zlman (1).

To create a bundle group:

  1. In the ZENworks Control Center, click the Bundles tab.

    Bundles tab

  2. Click New, then click Bundle Group to display the Basic Information page.

    Basic Information page

  3. Fill in the fields:

    • Group name: (Required) Provide a unique name for your bundle group. This name is displayed in the ZENworks Control Center interface (the administrative tool for ZENworks Linux Management) and in the user interface.

      For more information, see Section C.0, Naming Conventions in the ZENworks Control Center.

    • Folder: (Required) Type the name or browse to the folder that contains this bundle group.

    • Description: Provide a short description of the bundle group's contents. This description displays in the ZENworks Control Center interface and in the ZENworks Linux Management Update Client, which is the user interface for updating software.

  4. Click Next to display the Summary page.

    Review the information on the Summary page. Click the Back button to make any changes to the bundle-group settings.

    Depending on your needs, you can create the bundle group now or you can specify members, assignments, and schedules for this bundle group and configure other options.

  5. Click Finish to create the bundle group as configured per settings on the Summary page. If you click Finish, the bundle group is created but it does not have members, devices assigned, a schedule, and so forth. At some point in the future, you need to configure additional options for the bundle group by continuing with Section 20.4, Assigning Bundles.

    or

    Click Next to display the Add Group Members page to perform the following tasks:

    • Specify members for this bundle group

    • Specify assignments for this bundle group

    • Set special flags, such as flags to remove conflicting packages and attempt a dry run of the package installation

    • Specify the schedule to install or deploy the bundles

    Bundle Assignments page

  6. Specify the bundles to include in this bundle group.

    1. Click Add to browse for and select the appropriate bundle objects.

    2. Click the underlined link in the Name column to select the desired bundles and display their names in the Selected list box.

    3. Click OK.

  7. Click Next to display the Add Assignments page.

    Add Assignments page

  8. Assign the bundle group to the devices that you want to distribute the bundle group to.

    1. Click Add to browse for and select the appropriate device objects.

      You can also select Folder or Group objects.

    2. Click the down-arrow next to Servers or Workstations to expand the list, then click the underlined link in the Name column to select the desired objects and display their names in the Selected list box.

      Assigning a bundle to a Folder or Group object is the preferred method of assigning the bundle. Assigning the bundle to a large number of objects (for example, more than 250) might cause increased server utilization.

    3. Click OK.

  9. Click Next to display the Bundle Options page.

    Special Flags page

  10. (Optional) Specify the desired Special Flag options:

    • Remove conflicting packages: Select this option to specify that conflicting packages and files are uninstalled from devices before installing new packages and files. By default, this option is selected, so conflicting packages and files (previous versions of the same package, for example) are uninstalled before the current package or file is installed. If this option is not selected, packages and files are not installed if a conflict is detected.

    • Attempt a dry run: Select this option to have ZENworks Linux Management perform a test to determine if the RPM bundle or files can be successfully deployed. If there are any issues that could prevent the RPM bundle or file bundle from being deployed, you can look at the log file to troubleshoot the bundle-creation process. The log file is located in /var/opt/novell/logs/zenworks.

      A successful dry run ensures that the bundle can be successfully deployed or installed on assigned devices (packages are available, dependencies are met, etc.).

  11. Specify the desired Scheduling options:

    • Deploy and install at a scheduled time: Use this option to schedule the deployment and installation of the bundles contained in this bundle group. Click the Schedule icon to choose the schedule type.

      The following schedules are available. Click the link in the left column in the table below for more information about each schedule type and its options.

      Schedule Type

      Description

      Date Specific

      Select one or more dates on which to install the bundle on assigned devices and set other restrictions that might apply.

      Relative to Refresh

      Schedule when the bundle is installed, either immediately after the device refreshes or a specified amount of time after the device refreshes. You can also specify whether the bundle's installation is repeated and specify a time period when you do not want the bundle installed to help minimize network traffic during that time.

    • Deploy and install at separate scheduled times: Use this option to specify an optional deployment schedule separate from the installation schedule. If you select this option, you can set up a deployment schedule and an installation schedule. If you do not select this option, the packages will be deployed and installed on assigned devices according to the schedule. Click the Schedule icon to choose the schedule type.

      The following schedules are available. Click the link in the left column in the table below for more information about each schedule type and its options.

      Schedule Type

      Description

      Date Specific

      Select one or more dates on which to install the bundle on assigned devices and set other restrictions that might apply.

      Relative to Refresh

      Schedule when the bundle is installed, either immediately after the device refreshes or a specified amount of time after the device refreshes. You can also specify whether the bundle's installation is repeated and specify a time period when you do not want the bundle installed to help minimize network traffic during that time.

      The Deploy and install at separate scheduled times option is not set by default. In most situations, there is no need to deploy and install packages inside bundles at different times. You can, depending on your needs, schedule deployment and installation at different times to conserve network bandwidth or to perform the actions at more convenient times for users.

      The deployment schedule determines when the packages and files inside the bundle are downloaded from the server to the assigned devices. The packages and files are not yet installed and available for use. The installation schedule determines when the packages and files are installed on assigned devices so the packages will be available for use.

    • Deploy and install immediately (when this wizard completes): Select this option to specify that the packages inside the bundle group deploy and install immediately when the Create New Group Wizard completes, providing that the assigned devices are online. The packages inside the bundle group deploy to and install on devices that are not online when they refresh.

  12. Click Next to display the Summary page.

  13. Review the information on the Summary page, making any changes to the bundle settings by using the Back button as necessary. Click Finish to create the bundle as configured per settings on the Summary page.

  14. Click OK.